“I’ll set this in the fridge until we’re ready to eat it. Charlotte should be here in a few.”
“That damn girl is always running late.”
Sandra lightly slapped my chest with the back of her hand.
“What?”
“Don’t talk about your sister like that.”
I snorted. “Nah, I’ll talk about her ass. That girl acts like she doesn’t know the difference between eight a.m. and eight p.m. Always coming in the office late, talking about, ‘my bad, there was traffic on the highway.’ Yeah, it’s called rush hour. Folks are trying to get to work, which she should’ve been doing.”
Sandra giggled. “Not everyone gets into the office at five a.m. like you do.”
“Right?” my mother interjected as she re-entered the living room area. “That’s what I keep telling him.”
Sandra laughed some more.
“I don’t get into the office at five in the morning. That’s my workout time,” I corrected.
Sandra rolled her eyes and my mother tutted.
“Who the hell wants to get up that early just to run on a treadmill?”
“I do,” I responded to my mother more defensively than I’d intended. “It helps me think.”
Sandra placed her hand at the center of my chest. “Hey, you know we’re just teasing, right? I love how dedicated you are and how hard you work.”
Her words and touch soothed any anger that’d been starting to form, from just being in the presence of my mother. Grasping her hand, I lifted it to my lips.
“Mommy, look!” Monique called from the dining area of my mother’s condo.
We looked over and found Monique pointing out the floor-to-ceiling glass window at the sun setting.
“My mommy says sunsets are magic. Right, Mommy?” Monique said to my mother who’d moved closer to her.
“Right,” Sandra answered, walking over.
I followed and listened to Monique say that Sandra had explained to her that if she’d made a wish while staring at the sunset, it would come true. I glanced down at Sandra who had a far off expression. She looked to me and gave me a half smile.
“Hey, hey!” a female voice interrupted.
I glanced over my shoulder to see my sister entering my mother’s condo with the spare key I’d had made for her.
“About time,” I stated by way of greeting.
“Good to see you, too, big brother.”
I frowned. “We just saw each other yesterday.”
“And how wonderful to see each other today.” She rolled her eyes. “Anyway,” she stated, pivoting her gaze to Sandra. She smiled. “You must be Sandra. I’m Charlotte, Damon’s sister and top notch administrative assistant, office manager, and design specialist.”
I frowned. “If you were all of that my company would be in danger.”
Sandra squeezed my hand in warning, giving me a side-eye before turning back to Charlotte.
“Hi, Charlotte, pleasure to meet you. This is my daughter, Monique,” Sandra introduced as Monique moved to stand beside her.
“You’re pretty,” Monique added.
“Please don’t tell her that,” I groaned, shaking my head.
“He’s such a hater. Hey, Mama!” Charlotte greeted before stooping down in front of Monique.
“You’re pretty, too, little bit.”
Monique giggled. “Mr. Damon calls me short stuff.”
Charlotte glanced up at me then back down to Monique. “That’s a cool nickname. We’ll stick with that, short stuff.”
“Mommy, I need a snack,” Monique stated, looking up at Sandra.
“Oh.” Sandra began digging in her bag.
Monique turned back to Charlotte. “I have diabetes, and sometimes when my blood sugar gets too low, I need to eat. Mommy says I shouldn’t be embarrassed of having diabetes but then she also says I don’t have to tell everybody, but since your Mr. Damon’s family it’s okay that you know. Right, Mommy?” Monique looked up at Sandra, her large eyes blinking innocently.
“Yes, Monique. Here.” Sandra handed her one of the homemade granola bars she often carried with her to keep on hand for times when Monique needed something to eat.
“Well, we’re about to have dinner. You all sit down at the table. Charlotte will help me serve.”
I listened as Charlotte mumbled about not coming over here to be put to work. I had half a mind to tell her that since she lived in the same damn building and still had the nerve to be late, the least she could do was help serve, but I kept my mouth shut.
“You feeling better, short stuff?” I stooped low, asking Monique as she chewed on her granola bar.
She nodded and swallowed before answering. “Yes. Your sister’s pretty. She looks like your mom.”
I grinned. “Yeah, I looked more like my dad.”
“Oh, but you don’t have a dad anymore, right?”
“Monique—”
I held up my hand, cutting Sandra off. “That’s right. He died a long time ago. I wasn’t much older than you when he did.”
Monique’s expression softened, and before I knew it she moved into my arms and threw hers around my neck. I glanced up at Sandra who wore an uncertain expression on her face. I hugged Monique back.
“Thank you,” I stated when she pulled back.
“I know what it’s like not to have a dad.”
Sandra gasped, but before either one of us could respond my mother and sister were entering the dining area carrying plates full of chicken parmesan, spaghetti, and a large bowl of salad.
As we ate, my mother asked Sandra what she did for work. She seemed genuinely interested. And to be completely honest, it was the first time in years that I could remember being around my mother and not wanting to be anywhere but there. Regardless, I still felt tense in her presence. It was hard not to. The woman had spent the past eighteen years either seemingly incapable of doing anything but laying in bed all day, depressed, or being bitter over what life had done to her. I used to be more patient with her, but after years of the same thing over and over, I’d grown tired of it.
“Excuse me,” I said as my phone buzzed toward the end of our meal. I stood, glancing at the number, and seeing that it was Mike Russo Jr., I pressed the answer button.
“Yeah,” I greeted into the phone as I moved down the hall, stepping into one of my mother’s spare bedrooms and closing the door.
“I heard some news I thought you’d want to hear.”
“Go ahead,” I urged.
“The files I got from your guy on the inside were exactly what the FBI needed to nail the bastard. They’re finally able to bring him up on charges for racketeering, embezzlement, and money laundering. When convicted the fucker will never see the outside of a jail cell again.”
The excitement in Russo Jr.’s voice was undeniable. He really hated his father. From the little he’d told me, I could see why. The scars I recalled seeing on Russo’s back and chest the night of our fight, weren’t from Jr’s previous bouts but from his own father, growing up.
“How long before an arrest?” I questioned.
“Shouldn’t be longer than a week, I’m told. I’ll keep you posted.”
“Make sure you do.”
I hung up the phone and pulled open the door to my mother’s guestroom just as Charlotte was passing by, heading to the bathroom.
“Hey, was that work?”
I shook my head. “Personal.”
She squinted those almond-shaped eyes at me. “What kind of personal?”
My head shot back, and I looked at her like she’d lost her damn mind because evidently, she had.
“I’m just asking because I happen to like Sandra, even though I just met her. And I’m half in love with that little girl of hers already. And they both are over the moon about your brooding ass. Though don’t ask me why. Anyway, if you’re playing her—”
I held up my hand. “I’m not,” I stated sternly. I knew I was just as far gone over Sandra and Monique as my s
ister believed they were over me, but she didn’t need to know all of that.
“Good. Don’t mess up a good thing.”
I squinted. “Like you and your job.”
She gave me a sly grin. “Whatever, big bro. You wouldn’t fire me.” She waved me off as she confidently strolled passed me to enter the rest room.
I rolled my eyes. Little did she know. I’d fire Charlotte in a heartbeat if I could find someone competent enough to take her position in my company. The problem was, I didn’t trust many people. And pain in the ass that she was, I trusted my sister. But it was probably time to start looking for her replacement. For my own damn sanity. I’d always take care of her, but she needed to find a career that she really wanted and I needed an assistant who was in it for the long haul.
I made my way back to the dining area, ready to make my apologies for having to take a call during dinner, when I found my mother and Monique staring up at the sky. The sun had set and it was dark, which was when the stars shone their brightest. Surprisingly, my mother listened intently as Monique pointed to and named the various stars in the sky.
“Hey, we waited for you before we started with dessert,” Sandra stated, wrapping an arm around my waist. “Everything okay?”
I looked at her.
“With your phone call, I mean?”
Leaning down, I kissed the tip of her nose. “Yeah, just some old business I need to get squared away. And you all didn’t have to wait. I don’t really like banana pudding anyway.”
Sandra blinked. “Why didn’t you tell me that? I could’ve made something for you to have.”
I shrugged. “It’s cool.” I dipped low so that my lips were next to her ear. “I plan on having my dessert later anyway.”
She gasped when I bit her earlobe and then pressed a kiss to just below her ear, quickly before my mother and Monique turned around. And for good measure I reached behind her and squeezed her ass just so she knew that she was on my menu for dessert.
“Umhm, I saw that,” came from behind us.
I glared at my sister over my shoulder. “Stay out of grown folks’ business.”
Charlotte sucked her teeth as she walked past. “Whatever. And I forgot to tell you, your invite for that cancer fundraiser hosted at the hospital came in today.”
I frowned, looking at my sister as she passed. “The annual fundraiser hosted by Williamsport General?” I questioned.
“Yeah, that one,” she responded flippantly over her shoulder.
Shaking my head, I rolled my eyes heavenward. “I need a new damn assistant,” I growled. I lowered my head when I heard Sandra’s giggles.
“She’s not that bad.”
“She’s fucking terrible. You want a new job? I’ll double your salary.” I wiggled my eyebrows.
She gave me a frown. “I couldn’t work for you.”
I tilted my head. “Why not? I’m a hell of a boss.”
Sandra glanced over her shoulder before turning back to me, inching closer so only I could hear her. “I know you look damn good in a suit. I’d be too preoccupied with … other things besides getting work done,” she whispered.
A slow grin spread across my face. “Now that I can’t seem to find a problem with.”
Sandra laughed and lowered her face.
I moved my finger below her chin, raising her face again. “While you consider the job offer, you should also think about what dress you want to wear to this fundraiser.”
She gave me a funny look. “The one you go to every year? That Josh is a big donator for?”
I nodded. “Kayla told you about it?”
She nodded. “She told me she went last year, and it was the first time she’d seen Joshua since she’d left Williamsport seven or eight years earlier.”
I nodded. “That’s the story I heard, too. Anyway, I think you’d look perfect in something shimmery.”
“I’d have to start looking for something.”
“You’ve got a couple of weeks.”
“What are y’all talking about over there?” my mother called from the dining room area. “We were getting hungry for dessert.”
I frowned.
Sandra laughed and pulled me by the hand toward the dining room table where Monique was watching something with Charlotte on her phone.
“Can she have pudding or is it too sweet for her sugar?” my mother asked Sandra, referring to Monique.
Sandra nodded. “She can have a little.”
My mother nodded and moved to the kitchen to take out some bowls.
“Thanks for finally getting my boy over here,” my mother said to Sandra as we began to leave.
I raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything.
Sandra looked back at me. “We’ll try to get him to see you more often.”
Frowning, I glanced down at her. She gave me a questioning look.
“I see you plenty.”
My mother looked at me, eyes wide. “Before tonight I hadn’t seen or heard from you in weeks.”
Here we go. “Ma …” I paused, refraining from calling my mother a liar. “I called you last week.”
“And when was the last time I actually saw your face?”
I clenched my teeth, again stopping myself from telling her that the last time I was there she’d stormed out of the room like a little damn kid, leaving me to clean up and leave without her saying a word. She may have been somewhat of a pleasure to be around tonight but that didn’t erase years of her bitter or reclusive behavior.
“Damon’s really busy with work but he loves you deeply,” Sandra added while slipping her hand into mine.
“Mr. Damon’s really nice. You did a good job as his mommy,” Monique stated as Charlotte helped her put on the light jacket she’d worn over.
In spite of my frustration with my mother, I smiled and winked down at Monique.
“We’ll see you later, Ma. Thanks for dinner.” I leaned down and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Char, I’ll see you on Monday.”
“Oh, I might have to—”
“Don’t play with me. Have your as—” I glanced down, remembering I was in the presence of a child when Sandra squeezed my hand. “Behind at work on Monday. Eight-thirty,” I added for emphasis to which my sister simply rolled her eyes.
“See, now you’ve met my family,” I stated as the door to my mother’s condo shut behind us.
“They were nice,” Sandra replied as Monique moved in between the two of us. On instinct, I took her left hand in my right while Sandra took Monique’s right hand in her left. We strolled down the hallway toward the elevator just like that, as if we’d done so hundreds of times before.
Chapter Seventeen
Sandra
“You brought us back to your place,” I stated the obvious as I glanced around the parking garage we’d pulled into only seconds before.
“I did. It’s another twenty minute drive to your place which isn’t that long but I wanted you two to stay with me tonight.”
I blinked at the vulnerability in his voice. My heart actually felt like it skipped a beat.
“You have a spare bedroom,” I responded, not a question. I’d been to his place several times and was well aware of the layout.
“Does she have enough medication for the night? I can go to the store if you need to get her snacks or anything.”
I turned to look at a sleeping Monique and smiled. “We have enough. The only trouble will be getting her from the car to the bed without waking her.” I frowned.
“I got it covered,” he announced just before exiting the car, and lightly shutting his driver’s side door and pulling the back door on his side open.
I got out of the car, and by the time I stood upright I was surprised to see he had Monique cradled in his arms.
Frowning, I wrinkled my forehead. “She isn’t too heavy?” I whispered. My baby wasn’t such a baby anymore at ten years old. I’d long since stopped carrying her but Damon stood there are if she weighed little more than five
pounds.
“Light as a feather.” He motioned with his head for me to walk ahead of him toward the elevators.
I took one last look at him as Monique’s arms had tightened around his neck but she remained asleep. We made it up to his place within a few minutes and Damon moved swiftly, carrying Monique to the spare bedroom that was on the opposite end of the hallway from his own bedroom. I watched from the doorway as he gingerly laid her down, removed her shoes and jacket, and then neatly tucked her beneath the light blanket. Again, my heart nearly fell out of my chest when he leaned over and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
“G’night, Mr. Damon,” Monique mumbled.
I lifted an eyebrow, surprised that she was semi-awake. Damon froze also but Monique simply turned over and took a deep sigh, eyelids tightly sealed. Her breathing steadied and we both realized she was fully asleep once again.
Damon sauntered over to the door, wrapping a hand around my waist and pressing a kiss to my lips, which I willingly lifted my face to allow.
He motioned with his head and we exited, shutting the door behind us. Instead of heading to his bedroom, which I’d expected, we made our way toward his living room. Damon surprised me again by sliding the glass door leading to his balcony open and reaching for my hand, pulling us out into the night air. It was toward the end of April and the weather was warming up, though it was still a bit chilly at this time of night. Damon fixed that problem when he placed a light jacket over my shoulders.
I glanced down, then back up at him. “I thought you didn’t wear jackets.”
He chuckled as he pulled me down into his lap on the wooden lounge chair that was set up on his balcony. “I don’t. But they come in handy when I want to keep you warm. Is it too cold out here for you?”
My eyes fluttered shut as I leaned back against his strong chest and his arms came around my body.
“It might be too hot,” I mumbled.
He laughed again and pressed a kiss to the space between my neck and shoulder. I shivered and then stared up at the sky. It was dark but I could still make out a few clouds as they hovered around the moon.
“It’s a full moon tonight,” I told him as I watched the huge light in the sky.
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